1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for generating a report.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It has been the practice of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers to personally record pertinent information on a subject patient, client or matter so that professional services performed and data pertinent to the subject are documented. In many instances, the professional memorializes the pertinent data or basis for a decision contemporaneously as services are performed, such as by handwritten notes or dictation into a voice recorder, and the information is subsequently gathered for office personnel to enter into a report. Many reports are standardized as forms and the gathered information is filled into the form for efficient reporting. Record documentation is commonly prepared manually using predefined paper templates. Using traditional records management practices, data is not readily available to users. Data on paper forms cannot be easily combined with other reports containing data for analysis and reporting.
Some electronic medical records systems use hard-coded medical report templates or require the user to build the reports and organize the sections manually. Those prior art systems force the user to document according to a set of defined templates. This means, for example, that an actual medical report may contain several blank sections because some predefined sections were not needed for a particular medical visit. In addition, the user may be forced to include manual addenda with relevant clinical information that is not accounted for in the system's set of template forms. Electronic medical records systems that do allow for user customization of medical report templates either do not allow such customization while a report is being edited, or force the user to define the physical position of newly inserted sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,155 describes a document generation system, which automates the documentation process in the medical field. The system provides a computer-based documentation system incorporating a retrievable database with a menu driven graphical window environment. The documentation system utilizes previously defined document templates or “boiler-plates” to manage patient reports and includes a user interface for selecting phrases to be inserted into the template.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,363 discloses a medical history documentation system and method for recording information relating to at least one of a designated patient's current medical condition, a physical examination, a diagnosis and a treatment plan. The system includes a transcriber for providing a plurality of report section templates. Each of the report section templates comprise a plurality of optional text variable segments. The patient report comprises a combination of selected optional text variable segments.
Despite the advances in the art, there is a need for a system and method of generating reports more easily.